A sober coach is a specialized recovery professional who works with his or her clients on a close, personal basis. They offer guidance and support to people who need a helping hand to stay sober. Sober coaches are paid fees comparable to addiction treatment facilities. Most average around $200 an hour for one-on-one work, but can go up to $1,000 a day for 24-hour services.

Several years ago, sober coaches were almost exclusively hired to assist Hollywood celebrities struggling to stay clean. Today, however, sober coaches are utilized in virtually every part of the nation. From accompanying a client to the grocery store to shadowing a movie star on set, sober coaches can often mean the difference between relapsing and sustained sobriety.

Let’s take a look at a few successful sober coaches who have earned stellar reputations in their field:

Patty Powers

Patty Powers is a nationally recognized certified recovery coach living in New York City. She began drinking and using drugs during her teenage years. After a long struggle with addiction, Powers entered a treatment facility outside of New Orleans for heroin, cocaine, and methamphetamine addiction. She has been clean since 1988.
Powers works closely with her clients and, when authorized, she also works with the client’s clinical team. Working to create a wide net of support, Powers is able to share information, personal observations, or suggestions for continued sobriety. She encourages and even helps her clients find and build a solid support group for sustained sobriety. You might have seen Powers on the A&E miniseries Relapse.

Mike Bayer

Mike Bayer is an addiction specialist living in Santa Monica, California. Mike Bayer received his bachelor’s degree in Alcohol and Drug Counseling from Metropolitan State University in Minnesota. He is a California Certified Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselor (CADC II) as well as a Board Registered Interventionist (BRI I). He has been a crisis consultant and interventionist for over 10 years.

As the CEO and founder of Cast Recovery Services, Bayer has worked with some of the most successful names in Hollywood. For instance, Joe Jonas hired Bayer after receiving treatment for a substance abuse problem and credits the coach for saving his life.
Bayer is known for handling crisis situations with a calm and cool demeanor, assembling specialized teams to care for clients who are considered unsuitable for inpatient treatment. He caters to the needs of executives, professionals, celebrities and other clients who require the highest level of personal attention.

Seth Jaffe

Seth Jaffe is a familiar face to many people, as he appeared on A&E’s hit show Intervention. He is a nationally recognized interventionist and sober coach working in both residential and outpatient programs around the country. He has also worked for the National Institute on Drug Abuse as a field director in New York studying the effectiveness of residential therapeutic communities.
Jaffe spends time working with the family, helping them recognize how addiction has affected their lives as well and to help them with their own recovery. He is able to break down the barriers to recovery and helps clients recognize the signs and triggers of relapse. He encourages each client to become rooted in his or her recovery community.
Jaffe is a native New Yorker currently based in Los Angeles, California who travels throughout the country working with clients.

Ronnie Kaplan

At first glance, Ronnie Kaplan doesn’t look like your typical sober coach. He’s a former drug user, convict, and gang member turned super successful recovery coach. His tattoos reveal a past that was fueled with violence and addiction, but he hasn’t let his past dictate his future. In fact, Kaplan says that his checkered past has helped him to become one of the best sober coaches in the United States.
Kaplan has worked as a sober coach for the better part of a decade, helping clients wherever and whenever they need him. His personal style of coaching includes no-nonsense brutal honesty and he proudly admits he’ll do what it takes to keep his clients sober. Kaplam’s fees can reach $1,000 or more a day.

Michelle Hirschman

Michelle Hirschman is a Los Angeles sober coach, and founder of My Sober Coach, who specializes in young adult addiction and recovery. She has worked in treatment centers around the world, including West Africa. Hirschman got into the addiction recovery field as a counselor, practicing hospice and social work. She obtained a Master’s of Social Work and MSW from Washington University.
As a professional sober coach, Hirschman helps her clients navigate weekly, daily, or even hourly challenges as they come up during the various phases of sobriety. She understands that, when working with adolescents, it is crucial to demonstrate she is a trustworthy ally. She excels in not only preventing relapse, but supporting a more peaceful and happy existence in sobriety.

Cindy Feinberg

Cindy Feinberg, CPC, CAI is the founder and president of a private counseling service that integrates recovery and intensive case management for clients in all stages of recovery. She helps each client navigate through life post-rehab, ensuring they remain free from the chaos and disruption that substance abuse can create.
Trained by both Brad Lamm in the Life Style method and Judith Landau in the Arise method of Intervention, Feinberg incorporates family recovery in her work, along with coaching for long-term health and healing. Feinberg also works with the families and loved ones of her clients, fostering a greater chance for lifetime change.

Help is Here: If you or someone you love is struggling with substance abuse, we can help you find the right treatment options for your needs. Call and speak to a recovery advisor today.

Top Image Credit: Hugh Hamilton Photography/Ronnie Kaplan

Recovery Coaches Who Could Help Keep You Sober